1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an optical connector assembly, a connector holder, and an optical connector having a fastening structure in which an optical connector provided at the distal end of an optical fiber can be mounted on an optical output-input terminal provided on a substrate and positioned at a position that enables an optical connection to the optical input-output terminal.
2. Description of Related Art
Presently, optical transceivers used in optical LAN systems or the like generally employ a configuration in which the optical axis of a light emitting element (such as a semi-conductor laser) or an optical chip module (such as a photodiode) is aligned with the direction of a circuit substrate, and an optical connector is attached to an end of the substrate on which these optical elements are mounted or of a lead frame to achieve connection with an external optical fiber. Examples of the ferrule for an optical connector used for such purpose are well-known single core optical ferrules (an MU ferrule (MU: Miniature-unit Coupling optical fiber connector, used in the optical connector stipulated in JIS C 5983), an SC-type ferrule (SC: single fiber coupling optical fiber, used in the optical connector stipulated by JIS C 5973), or the like) multi-core ferrules (MT ferrule (MT: Mechanically Transferable, stipulated in JIS C 5981), and so-called MINI-MT ferrules, and the like). The optical transceivers that employ any of these ferrules have already been standardized. However, accompanying the recent strengthening of requirements for optoelectric hybrid circuits and optoelectric mixed-signal substrates, because each type of optical transceiver having such a configuration has restrictions with respect to the installation position of the optical connector, problems are encountered in that the degree of freedom of the design of the optical connection paths and circuit substrates has become restricted, and furthermore, the substrate cannot be miniaturized. An example of an optical transceiver is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H06-273641.